has come off my new issue of Word. I love everything about the new design except for this. I can't even blame my toddlers except to the extent that magazines get picked up and put down a lot as their supervision requires, but I'd hope a magazine should withstand 'getting picked up and put down a lot'.

If I didn't know it'd annoy people, I'd put a sad face emoticon HERE.

Since everyone's being so helpful with these enquiries, I wonder if anyone might be able to identify a track that a mate's girlfriend used to play to death about 15 years ago:

Circa 1996/7
The only lyric I can remember, from the chorus, is a vaguely rousing call of "Put on your armour" (which certainly raises the very real possibility of it being bloody awful)
Breathy-voiced, multiple harmonies over a folk song with a slightly psychedelic edge to it.
The sort of thing that a massive pothead would own.
It was on vinyl and seemed quite long - six or seven minutes - from what I recall.

Not much to go on, but any help gratefully received.

The merger of ticket agent Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation has been cleared by the UK regulator.

The Competition Commission said that the merger would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market" in the UK.

The decision is a reversal of its provisional ruling. It had been concerned the deal would lead to higher prices and lower quality of service.

The US Justice Department is also investigating the proposed merger.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8425753.stm

Do you agree with the decision to allow the merger? How do you anticipate being affected?

If anyone can get to De Montfort Hall this evening and would like to see the last ever show by the splendid folk/reggae band Edward II, supported by the equally great Dhol Foundation, let me know. I've been blown out at the last minute.

http://www.demontforthall.co.uk/events/events.php/2009/329/edward-ii-ten...

You'll have to sit next to me, but I promise I've showered this morning.

What better than asking loveable, be-monocled, UKIP-supporting, xylophone-playing astronomer Patrick Moore to give us the truth behind pop songs about space?

http://thequietus.com/articles/01994-space-rock-the-final-frontier-sir-p...

Last night, I spent a magnificently enjoyable two hours watching a band that included Herbie Flowers, Chris Spedding, Justin Heywood and Chris Thompson. Despite the calibre of these musicians, I couldn't quite escape the feeling that there was something not terribly cred about the proceedings.

It gradually dawned upon me that it might have something to do with the giant fighting machine on stage, the ten foot high hologram of Richard Burton and the back projections of a CGI Martian invasion of Victorian England. That and the singers who came out dressed in the appropriate garb and mugged along. It was quite preposterous and yet it didn't really matter. If you still have sufficient fondness for the bombast of WotW with its famous "Dun dun derrrr....!!! (durdle-ud durdle-er!)" to pay forty odd quid to go and see it performed in an ice rink, then you've pretty much got to be either immune or inured to absurdity. I've never seen a show like this before and I can't imagine wanting to go again, but boy was it fun! I dropped thirty years and returned to childhood and my dad bringing home a review copy of this record and saying, "You might like this..."

That single action unquestionably influenced my music tastes and I probably ought to sue. But then there's something immensely satisfying about sitting in a crowd of other people and being swept by a Martian heat ray.

The chances of anyone else being prepared to admit to a liking for Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds are a million to one, but still I'm asking...

if I said I'd just discovered my next door neighbour is Ayshea Brough?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8045423.stm

Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell also appeared on the Oprah show, and described his shock at hearing Ms Boyle's voice for the first time.

[...]

Cowell spoke about how TV talent shows have the power to transform people's lives.

He said: "It gives the underdog a shot, and I think it's brilliant. The fact that we're allowing the public to make the decisions most of the time is a really good thing.

"The great thing about it is when you start seeing it in places like China and Afghanistan. It's democracy. We've kinda given democracy back to the world."

Have just been recommended the above by my brother, and been blown away. For anyone who likes Bjork/Kate Bush/Bat For Lashes.

Fever Ray:

The Knife:

Never heard of them before, but apparently The Knife are one the most successful pop bands in Sweden.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8014126.stm

A musical based on Jade Goody's life is being created, a former business partner and friend of the late reality TV star has confirmed.

Danny Hayward, who is in charge of the project, said he is planning to hold open auditions to fill the lead role of the 27-year-old herself.

"Jade was just an ordinary girl and the person who plays her will reflect that," he said.

"The most important thing is to give someone a break, just like she got."

'Dream'

He said dates for the auditions will be announced in three weeks' time.

However, Goody's former publicist Max Clifford played down the show.

"It's an idea that's got legs, but it's nothing definite. It's not all signed and sealed, but it's something that's likely to happen."

He added that if the production did go ahead he would help promote it and cast the lead roles.

"I got very close with Jade in the last year and spent a lot of time with her," he said.

Earlier this month, Clifford revealed he had been in talks with several film companies about making a movie based on Goody.

He told Radio 1 Newsbeat that they were "serious discussions" because her "incredible life touched so many people".

'Creative team'

Mr Hayward, who was one of Goody's "best men" at her wedding to Jack Tweed in February, said the star had always wanted to be on stage.

"Her dream was as a little girl was to be in a musical, so so obviously when she passed away it felt fitting to do something like this."

He said Goody had not known about the project, as the idea had been devised since her death.

He added he was currently "putting scripts together" and employing the "creative team".

"It's still in its infant stages, but it's definitely going to happen."

Goody, who became famous after appearing in Big Brother, passed away in March after she lost her high-profile battle with cervical cancer.

Thousands of people turned out to see the funeral procession, which travelled through London. before reaching Buckhurst Hill in Essex, where the funeral took place.

Susan Boyle for the lead..?

http://www.postmodernbarney.com/2009/04/uncomfortable-plot-summaries/

Does what it says on the tin. May contain spoilers. And nuts. Here's a few of my faves:

300: Gays kill blacks.
8 MILE: White man successfully coopts black culture to impress other whites.
BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.
BOOGIE NIGHTS: Deformed boy goaded into life of crime.
CHEERS: Alcoholic cuts lime in bar as penance for his womanizing ways.
DOCTOR WHO: Elderly man serially abducts young women.
LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: American yahoo murders soldiers and desecrates religious artifacts for money.
SE7EN: Homicide detectives unable to prevent even a single murder by admitted serial killer, killer gives cop head.
SIGNS: Jesus trumps science.
STAR TREK: Over-sexed officer routinely places crew in danger.

I missed this, but through the magic of t'interweb, I am lead to believe it may still be possible to get hold of it...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/thirdreichandroll.shtml

The fascinating story of how the Third Reich - a dictatorship with an advanced appreciation of media manipulation - developed magnetic tape recording, the very technology that led to the birth of rock’n’roll.

Over three weekly episodes, Stephen Fry tells the story of how Hitler’s huge financial investment in recording for propaganda purposes would eventually give rise to exactly those personal freedoms he was trying to suppress.

The story starts with how the Allies discovered both German Magnetophon recording machines and the plastic magnetic tape they recorded onto. It took two of America’s biggest entertainment stars to realise the potential of this revolutionary technology.

Bing Crosby produced America’s first taped network radio show. And his friend, Les Paul, created his ground-breaking over-dubbing techniques, the building blocks of today’s record production.

Part two features the rock’n’roll years and how the multi-track recording process changed the face of music production forever. Songwriters could now write in a new and liberating way and, for the very first time, artists could record in styles they had never dreamt of before.

In the final episode we go digital. The hard drive was born. Sampling and synthesizer technology were developed. This revolution led directly to the creation of new musical genres. We download this music to our mp3 players. And it is much more than music now - anyone can listen, anyone can podcast.

The Third Reich believed tape recording would help them assume complete control while in fact it started a train of events that led to our enjoyment of personal freedoms they could never have envisage.

Any one listen? Is it worth getting hold of?

According to the Telegraph, Spotify was hacked and personal details may have been compromised. It applies to accounts created on or before December 19, 2008, and the bug that allowed the exploit has been long since closed. The hack has only just come to light.

Spotify, the online music streaming service which allows users to listen to music on their computers, has been hit by hackers. Users of the service have been advised to change their passwords.

Spotify also warned that personal details, such as email addresses, birth dates and post codes may also have been exposed during the security breach. However, it said that because credit card details used for premium accounts were handled by a secure outside organisation, payment information was not at risk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynew...

Having unexpectedly been gifted a mandolin over the weekend, and having managed to get something verging on the pleasant from it already, I thought I would ask the Massive whether there are any mandolin classics I should now be checking out.

Without having a pop at the Boss, is this not a rather disapointingly conservative choice after Jay-Z last year?

Especially given Neil Young is probably headlining one of the other nights.